Alex Stepheson holds his right thumb and index fingers less than an inch apart and smiles.

“This is how close I came to playing basketball at UCLA.” Stepheson said, shaking his head.

The slim margin separating Stepheson from the school he once loved is par for the course considering the crazy path his career has taken since leaving Harvard-Westlake of Studio City in 2006.

And the fact he will step on the court today at Pauley Pavilion as a member of USC’s basketball team rather than UCLA’s – or even with North Carolina’s – only adds to the zaniness.

The road Stepheson traveled from high school superstar to a starting forward for the Trojans has taken more twists and turns than a Tom Clancy novel.

Stepheson was a highly touted recruit for Roy Williams and North Carolina and a high-profile transfer who appeared destined to play for the Bruins after leaving the Tar Heels at the end of his sophomore year to be closer to his ailing father.

He watched his former Carolina teammates win an NCAA championship without him and was swayed from a nearly done-deal commitment to UCLA at the 11th hour by sweet-talking Tim Floyd, who convinced Stepheson he was building something special at USC.

He endured a year in limbo last season when the NCAA denied his transfer waiver, then absorbed the stunning news that Floyd, the coach he put all his trust in, was walking away from the Trojans amid accusations he paid money to induce O.J. Mayo to play at USC.

And just when things were looking up for Stepheson when he finally returned to the court this season, he was kicked in the stomach when he found out USC’s self-imposed sanctions over the Floyd-Mayo scandal meant a postseason ban for the basketball team.

His saga seems like a bunch of crazy plot twists from “He Got Game.”

But for Stepheson, this is reality.

“If you would have told me the day I committed to North Carolina that all this would happen to me, I probably wouldn’t have believed you,” Stepheson said. “It’s been a crazy journey, to be sure, but at the same time it’s been a great learning experience.

“I’ve learned a lot from every situation I’ve been in, so I don’t regret anything.”

Today, he will look at all of his friends on the Bruins and laugh to himself as he thinks, “That could have been me wearing that jersey.”

“Just as I do when whenever I watch UCLA on TV.” he said.

But he won’t dwell on it or have any regrets.

For one, he isn’t that sort of guy, but more important, he doesn’t have time to get bogged down by either emotion.

Stepheson might be four years out of high school, but he’s still in the infant stages of his basketball development.

He was in the Tar Heels’ rotation, but he didn’t play big minutes at Carolina. Sitting out for nearly a year and a half did wonders for his affection for the game, but it did very little for his overall growth.

The NBA looms on the horizon, and he has just the rest of this year and next season to make his mark, refine his skills and prove he’s worthy to play at the next level.

So far, he’s averaging 10.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game and fighting through bouts of foul trouble while learning to deal with various defensive alignments designed to slow him down.

“People need to remember he hasn’t played a whole lot,” USC coach Kevin O’Neill said. “He’s a young guy who needs to get better, just as all young players do. As he moves forward over the next year and a half, if he wants to get to where he wants to be he’s gonna have to lock in and be a workaholic basketball-wise.

“That’s the only way you make it at the next level, by being a workaholic.”

Stepheson thought he knew hoops craziness growing up in Los Angeles with the Lakers and UCLA dominating the landscape.

He found out otherwise when he got to Chapel Hill in 2006.

“It’s a different ballgame out there,” Stepheson said. “The whole atmosphere is huge down there, and you just have to be there and experience it to understand just how big it actually is.”

Stepheson didn’t play big minutes as a freshman and sophomore, but he was making progress while going up against Tyler Hansbrough every day in practice.

“That was a great experience, getting a chance to play against him every day.” Stepheson said. “And of course coach Williams is a great coach, so I learned a lot from him.”

But he never quite shook the urge to be closer to home, especially while his father was dealing with a still undisclosed medical issue in 2008.

When Stepheson broke the news to Williams that he was planning on leaving Chapel Hill to return home shortly after the Tar Heels lost to Kansas in the 2008 Final Four, Williams asked Stepheson to give it one week, and if he still wanted to transfer he’d support the decision.

“Which is what I did.” Stepheson said. “But after the week was up, I knew I wanted to leave. He was behind me 100 percent.”

Stepheson was convinced he’d end up at UCLA, where he’d developed a good relationship with Bruins coach Ben Howland, who recruited him out of high school.

But just before Stepheson committed to the Bruins, Floyd called and asked him to visit USC.

“At first I wasn’t gonna go, to be honest,” Stepheson said. “But at the last second I decided to check it out, just to see what it was all about.”

Stepheson fell in love with USC, specifically the program Floyd was building.

“It just seemed like coach Floyd was onto something special,” Stepheson said. “And I wanted to be a part of it.”

To the surprise of everyone, Stepheson committed to Floyd and the Trojans.

As a transfer, Stepheson sat out all last year and played on the scout team along with current point guard Mike Gerrity, a transfer from Charlotte. The two were developing a bond that actually started when they played on the same club ball team in high school.

“We had a lot of reps and a lot of practices under our belts before we hit this season,” Gerrity said. “And it was pretty obvious the type of things he could bring to the table. He’s a physical specimen, a monster, so I was excited just knowing I was going to play with him this year.”

While Stepheson toiled away on the scout team, his former team was making a run to the NCAA title. He remained in constant contact with the Tar Heels as he watched from Los Angeles.

“Tyler and I were joking around about it right before they played for the championship.” Stepheson said. “He was telling me, `You should be here, getting this ring with us.’ But there were no hard feelings, no jealously. I was honestly happy for them because I knew how hard they’d work to get there.”

Besides, Stepheson was convinced Floyd was building the foundation for similar success at USC. Stepheson then got a call from Floyd last June telling him he was resigning.

“Boom, just like that, it happened. I was shocked,” Stepheson said. “When I talked to coach Floyd he just wished me well and said he was sorry for the circumstances and the situation.

“Then he said he’d be cheering for me and wishing the best for me. And that was it.”

Exit Floyd and enter O’Neill, a coaching lifer who spent last year in the NBA with the Memphis Grizzlies. Prior to that he’d been at Arizona, Marquette, Northwestern and Tennessee, among other stops, in addition to stints in the NBA.

Stepheson asked around about O’Neill, and the feedback was interesting, to say the least.

“I heard rumors he was a tough coach to play for, that he was crazy.” Stepheson said, laughing. “I heard a lot of crazy stories about him.

“I just told myself I wasn’t going to judge him because the fact is I didn’t even know him. So I gave him a chance, and he came in and showed he’s a great guy and a great coach. I’m happy he’s here.”

There was one last shock for Stepheson and the Trojans to endure thanks to Floyd and Mayo, of course. They recently learned they can’t play in the postseason this year as part of the school’s self-imposed sanctions over the incident.

For Stepheson, it was just one more plot twist.

“It’s devastating in the respect that we have a pretty good team here,” Stepheson said. “At the same time there isn’t a thing we can do about it. You just have to deal with it, put it behind you and move forward.”

If Stepheson’s learned anything the last four years, it’s how to move forward.

Vincent Bonsignore is an NFL columnist for the Southern California News Group. Having covered the Los Angeles sports scene for more than two decades, Bonsignore has emerged as one of the leading voices on the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers, the NFL and NFL relocation.

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